improving. we'll let you know when everyone will see a drop some 20 degrees in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. now to the latest on the san bruno explosion. the san mateo county coroner's office says the eighth person has died. the 58-year-old rented a room on glenview drive. just about 200 feet from where the pipeline exploded. he died on monday. franco was apparently in his room at the time of that explosion. he was treated first at san francisco general before being transferred to the uc san francisco med center. capitol hill zeroed in on the explosion today. california center barbara boxer led the charge demanding the head of pg&e make safety changes immediately. nbc has the story from washington for us right now. steve? >> reporter: lisa, thanks. good evening. the blown section of the san bruno pipeline is here in washington, the ntsb is in the middle of its investigation. but now the pressure is on pg&e

to alter its system immediately. in the hearing here in washington, up on capitol hill today, chris johns, the head of pg&e says he's already lowered the pressure of the natural gas in his pipelines that run through populated areas. he's inviting congress to require big gas lines to be moved out of residential neighborhoods. but a clash came on ougauto mat shutoff valves. senator barbara boxer literally sniffed at that. >> you would agree there would have been a shutoff valve, we would have averted the disaster. >> if there were a remote controlled shutoff valve in there, the gas flow would have stopped faster by the time our people got there. >> reporter: so the challenge is laid down.

will pg&e make its very, very expensive upgrades and switch to automatic shutoff valves in all of these high-risk areas. about 3,600 miles of pipeline we're told. and do it immediately. the company said they will do whatever is necessary to keep the system safe. live from capitol hill, steve handelsman reporting. lisa, back to you. >> thank you. gubernatorial candidates go head-to-head in their first debate of this campaign. nbc bay area's jody hernandez is live at the uc davis campus where the debate will begin in just about an hour. jody, five weeks until the november election. now the candidates clearly have their eyes on the many voters who are still undecided in this race. >> reporter: the latest polls show a whopping 18% of voters have no idea who they're going to vote for. many of those voters are lined up here today to watch this

debate for themselves. the candidates are fully aware they have an awful lot to prove. the stage is set for gubernatorial hopefuls meg whitman and jerry brown to square off face-to-face for the first time, with just five weeks in the polls showing the two running neck and neck, the stakes couldn't be higher. >> it's also the first time most californians get a glimpse of meg whitman outside of an ad. so she needs to show people of california what she would like as a person. >> jerry brown's goal has to be to convince people that he's not a has-been, that he's still very much alive and active and can govern enthusiastically. >> reporter: the public's been bombarded with negative television ads. meg whitman spent a record $119 million of her own money on the

campaign. but voters appear hungry to see more than just 30-second spots. >> i'm ready. >> reporter: jerry brown says he's looking forward to tonight. he thinks voters will have a much clearer idea who to choose come tomorrow. >> i think people are kind of sitting back and saying, okay, what's the democrat going to do, what's the republican going to do. how are we going to get this state working again. i think that's the choice that -- the decision everybody has to make. >> its hope it's a calm discussion of the issues. and a people come away with a deeper understanding of what's involved in the process of governing california. >> reporter: again, the stage is set for this debate to begin in an hour from now. i'll tell you, a lot of demonstrators have lined up outside the auditorium. you can see some of them out there now. most of them appear to be pro-jerry brown supporters here. again, this debate will begin an hour from now. everyone is very interested to see how these candidates will

square off. reporting live in davis, jody hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> the first of three televised debates. we want to remind you that nbc bay area will air the governor's debate on october 12th. that will be the last of them. tom brokaw the moderate the debate in san rafael. and it will begin at 6:30e righ here in nbc bay area. and we'll have it on our webs e website. a budget breakdown as the governor and top lawmakers canceled budget talks today. governor schwarzenegger blames union bosses for blocking pension reforms that the governor says are needed to solve the state's $19 billion budget crisis. the senate president denied unions are blocking those reforms and accused the governor of looking for someone else to blame. a convicted murderer's date with death could be delayed indefinitely. hours ago lawyers on both sides filed briefs to argue whether albert greenwood brown should be

executed as scheduled thursday night. the ninth u.s. court of appeals will decide whether the lethal injection process has crested previous flaws. the appeals court denied if the execution date could have been delayed because of a low supply of the drug. a 6-year-old girl is recovering from surgery in a bay area hospital tonight. she was asleep in her bed hwhen she was shot this morning. the drive-by shooting happened in east oakland. nbc bay area's tracey grant tells us more about what happened. tracey? >> reporter: police advised us not to hang around that part of seminary avenue longer than necessary. they said there's a lot of drug activity over there, and shootings in that area aren't

unusual. now, despite repeated signs of danger, this family remained in their home. and now the 6-year-old girl is paying the price for that decision. >> everybody was sleeping. like all of a sudden gunshots were in the house. >> reporter: in the light of day, you can see evidence of the multiple rounds of gunfire that sprayed this east oakland home around 2:00 a.m. nowhere is the damage more obvious than here in this bedroom. the walls are riddled with bullet holes. some are just inches above the bed where the 6-year-old was sleeping with her mom. the shots woke karen and she found her mother crying hysterically and holding the little girl in her arms covered in blood. >> it was like horrible to see my little sister crying. she was saying her arm was hurting. >> reporter: the 6-year-old had been shot in the arm. the family says the bullet went through her arm and into her chest. karen ramirez said someone drove

past the house and let loose a hail of bullets. she said two similar incidents happened over the last few months, but no one was hurt and they never reported it to the police. >> we never thought it would happen again because of the two other last ones. so we just decided to stay. like we thought everything was going to be okay. >> reporter: a spokesman says he doesn't understand that logic. >> the family members should be upset, too, about what happened. they have information about who did this, or who the suspects are, or why this happened, and they didn't talk to our investigators and give us that information. >> reporter: now, police say they're going to be investigating whether this shooting was gang related. ramirez says that if possible, the shooting might have had something to do with her brother. but she insists her brother is not in a gang. if someone was targeting the brother, then they failed. because the brother wasn't even home when all of this took place.

live in oakland, tracey grant, nbc bay area news. right now, firefighters are checking out hot spots after a fire ripped through an apartment complex in the east bay. heavy smoke and flames went through the campus. no one was injured. the call to the fire still under investigation. mediators from the persian gulf are visiting iran in hopes of securing freedom for two cal grads in prison accused of spying. the state department confirms the delegation from amman is visiting the iranian leader. earlier this month amman secured the release of shourd. shourd said the three were hiking along the iran/iraq border a year ago when they accidently crossed into the iranian border. coming up --

>> i'm chief meteorologist>> je. triple digits are still lingering around at this hour. tomorrow, still warm to hot. 11:00 a.m., expecting 80 degrees in the south bay. we'll let you know when this cooling will arrive coming up. why one retail giant said they will be hiring more workers this holiday season. for better or worse, how the recession is affecting marriage in america. why a new report is questioning whether bans on texting while driving fuactuall work

our state is in a real mess. and i'm not going to give you any phony plans or snappy slogans that don't go anywhere. we have to make some tough decisions. we have to live within our means. we have got to take the power from the state capitol and move it down to the local level, closer to the people. and no new taxes, without voter approval. we have got to pull together not as republicans or as democrats but as californians first. at this stage in my life, i'm prepared to do exactly that.

it's education nation on nbc this week, where we focus on the state of education across the country. one in four kids deals with bullies in school on a regular basis. bullying often takes a toll on academics with nearly 8% of students missing one day of class per month out of fear. teachers have said enough is enough. nbc's kelly reports on how some are stopping bullying before it starts. >> i have 36 of you here today telling me that you would like to help the mission of our schools. >> reporter: these 6th graders are vying for highly sought after jobs at their elementary school. >> part of what we call a caring majority. >> reporter: the chance to become caring majority ambassador to spread the word that caring is cool, and bullying is not. >> well, i'm trying to get the kids to understand that something must be done and should never be ignored. >> they don't know they get get picked on again and again. >> reporter: what's different

here is the school focuses on the bully and the bullied, but focuses on the other kids that might be witnessing the bullying in the first place. if you see bullying, the message here is don't be a bystander. be an upstander. >> we coined the term upstander. don't just let things happen. stand up for what's right and fair and just. >> reporter: the brain child of the principal has been so successful, it's being implemented in all the other elementary schools in long island. >> we have data that shows the number of suspensions in our middle school has gone down dramatically. >> reporter: using role play, the 7th graders show the younger students what to do when they see a bully in action. >> that's not cool. >> nothing stops by you standing there watching. it doesn't make anything better. >> surveys show more than a third of students between the ages of 12 and 18 report being bullied at school, some of them

on a daily basis. for more on education nation series, go to our website. we have devoted a special section to the series. just click on the education nation tab. tonight on "c nightly news", what makes a good teacher, and why is bill gates spending millions of dollars to find out. that's coming up at 5:30. all on the subject of bullying, there is new information that shows bullies are increasingly targeting kids with food allergies. a new study shows a quarter of teens and young adults with food allergies report being teased, harassed, even bullied, because of their condition. among kids in grades 6 through 10, that percentage rises to as high as 50%. for some, the bullying is physical including the smearing of an allergic child with peanut butter. 67% of allergic kids bullied report feeling sad, depressed or embarrassed. former president jimmy carter is recovering in a cleveland hospital after becoming ill on a flight.

carter was flying from atlanta to cleveland on a book tour when he complained of an upset stomach. rescue crews met the plane on the tarmac and took him to a nearby hospital. doctors say he is resting comfortably and should be able to resume his book tour later this week. bans on texting while driving should work. that is if people don't ignore them. a new study shows bans on texting while driving are not reducing crash rates at all. the study covers four states, including california. it shows that texting bans could actually be making the problem worse. as drivers move their phones out of sight and shift their eyes from the road. the study said young drivers text more frequently than older people. uncle. uncle. wouldn't give up. >> yeah. it's stifling. >> really hot. >> you're not supposed to exercise outdoors?

did you do the exact opposite? i had a sip of water before. i am so bad. sorry. >> i did the right thing. i sat around my house. >> i turned on the air, too. take a look at the record -- potential record highs here across the bay area on this tuesday. what a hot way to start the week. now for some of us, this will be the hottest day so far in the last four days of heat, with livermore at 104 so far. san jose at 99. san francisco airport at 93 degrees. as far as the hottest weather of the year, right now it looks like august the 24th will be hotter than this event we're going through today. san francisco tied an all-time record for august. it was hot out here. with plenty of triple-digit heat. currently the air is still also very dry. right now, a look from the san bruno mountains toward the bay bridge. humidity only at 22%. so while we do not have any red flag fire warnings across the

bay area, our fire danger is extremely high. we're just not getting those winds accompanying this to get us up to red flag warning status. 100 in novato. 86 in san francisco. but here is the key. take a look down here at santa cruz. you have 71. that's a sign of a little bit of onshore cooling. but still, no cooling for those of us in the east bay. tonight it's still going to be warm. but we're seeing a little bit of fog here develop offshore. that's a sign of some changes. so for wednesday, it's still going to stay hot for the valley locations. but we're going to get cooling at the coastline. ahead, it is all about a 20 to 30-degree drop in our temperatures. right now radar picture, clear, sunny out there. but we are watching a little bit of moisture bubble up in southern california. we may see hilltop scattered showers tomorrow across the coastal mountains. right now that chance is only about 10 prls. out here offshore, it's still high pressure.

that remains king. at least over the next two days. that will keep it hot here inland. specifically for tomorrow. but we're going to start to see the fog developing at the coastline for wednesday and thursday. and that will eventually give us pretty good cooling throughout thursday. not only at the coastline but inland. thursday is the day to look for if you want relief from the heat. tomorrow, enjoy warm temperatures in the east bay. 81 degrees at 11:00 a.m. no need for a jacket as we start off tomorrow morning, too. temperatures near 70 degrees in the north bay, east bay and even some low 70s for your start tomorrow in the south bay. as for wednesday, low 90s here in the south bay. we're going to try to get out of the triple digits as we see the fog slowly developing along the coastline. the peninsula will also gettl cooling with 76 in san francisco. 88 in redwood city. 94 in concord. alamo expecting upper 80s to low 90s. north bay, plenty of low 90s as well.

tomorrow going down a bit. thursday, the larger changes for everyone, with mid-80s inland. and then as we head throughout friday, saturday and sunday, slow and steady with low to mid-80s. i was in las vegas for vacation the past couple of days, and it was hot there as i got off the plane. but i got off the plane in san francisco and i was like, wait, these are las vegas temperatures. >> probably 100 here, wasn't it. >> it was. >> at least you expect it in vegas. quentin tarantino's film editor is dead after hiking on the hottest day ever in l.a. they found her near the hollywood hills around 2:00 this morning. officers say they do not suspect foul play. she was nominated for an oscar for her work on tarantino's 1994 film "pulp fiction." the heat is leaving thousands of people in the dark. temperatures skyrocketed to 113 degrees in l.a. yesterday,

causing power outages in parts of l.a. and orange counties. over 27,000 people still don't have their power today. still ahead at 5:00, caught on camera. amazing video into the newsroom of a dramatic mud slide. holiday help for the unemployed. one retail store is boosting hiring this year. the nominees are in. who could behe next t act inducted into the rock 'n' roll who could behe next t act inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. fs, we did... perhaps the work needs to be done somewhere else. [ male announcer ] fiorina shipped jobs to china. and while californians lost their jobs, fiorina tripled her salary. bought a million dollar yacht. and five corporate jets. i'm proud of what i did at hp. [ male announcer ] carly fiorina. outsourcing jobs. out for herself. [ barbara boxer ] i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message.

home video tonight captures a deadly mud slide in colombia. at least 30 people are believed to have been killed in this slide. it happened as people were trying to switch buses, because of an earlier slide, which had blocked the road. heavy rain in recent weeks has led to deadly floods there as well. in central mexico, heavy rain caused a hillside to collapse on sleeping residents in a small rural community. tonight rescue crews are digging through debris near the town.

five people are confirmed dead, at least eight are missing. some reports claim more than 100 people are unaccounted for tonight. a collapsed bridge blocked roads and heavy rain are hampering rescue operations. to the economy now. it appears the financial crisis has more couples holding up on saying "i do." back in 2000, 57% of adults say they tied the knot. experts say the economic downturn may be causing more young adults to resist making long-term commit also as they struggle to find work. speaking of work, it will hire about 45,000 workers to help with the holiday season. that move would double the company's work force in the u.s. the company says it hired more workers because of an additional 600 smaller stores opening up in malls and shopping centers. we'll be right back with who could soon be f ockoln' rhalll o the

rock 'n' roll hall of fame. [ female announcer ] jerry brown and oakland's schools. what were the facts? fact: march 7, 2000. brown asks voters for new mayoral power to appoint school board members. he gets it, and promises better schools. but the drop out rate increases...50%. the school budget goes into a 100 million dollar deficit. the schools become so bad...the state has to take them over. it was "largely a bust," he admitted. jerry brown. failure as governor. failure as mayor. failure we can't afford now.

for those about to rock, like tom, we salute you. 15 actors honored for induction into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. here's a look at the names on the short list. alice cooper, bc boys, bon jovi and ll cool jay made the cut. the top five inductees will be announced in december. the ceremony takes place next march. how about that. so you got to fight for your right to party with the beasty boys. >> stick around.

♪ you don't bring me flowers >> bon jovi. "nightly news" coming up next. ring ring ring ring. hey, your chicken noodles ringing.

ring ring progresso. hi, may i speak to my oggy please? thank you. i'm sorry, w? my grandma. this is obviouslyher chicken n. only hers tastes like this.jus. thanks so much. hold one moment please. another person calling for her grandmother. she thinks it's her soup huh? i'm told she's in the garden picking herbs. i'll hold. she's holdin. wha? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. ring ring. look for great deals on progresso soups this week at safeway. shop now and save. our state has a huge deficit. meg whitman's plan will make it billions worse by eliminating the capital gains tax for wealthy investors, including herself. economists say her plan will "rip a hole in the budget" and is "deeply flawed". analysts for the l.a. times say whitman's plan is a "pure handout" to the rich